Gilded Wings Day!!

BOOK 2 IS OUT!  BOOK 2 IS OUT!  This is not a drill - Gilded Wings: The Angel Chronicles Book 2 has been released!  What's that? You haven't read book 1 yet!?  Click here to read more about it.

Amy Lignor (author of The Angel Chronicles) is here today with a guest post with some fun-facts about book 2!  After the guest post there is: a giveaway (yay!), a sneak peek of the novel (read-a-long excerpt) and Amy's bio.  Keep reading!

The Summer ‘Cottages’ of the ‘Four Hundred Club’

Miss June ignored his remarks and continued her ‘who’s who’ tour of American society. “Now, Mrs. Astor never liked the Vanderbilt family. She thinks they’re basically businessmen – a very common lot. But Alva Vanderbilt built a stunning cottage in Newport, Rhode Island that rivals Beechwood. It’s absolutely huge. I’ve never been inside, but from what little I could gather from Mitchell, the thing is massive. Supposedly every room is filled with crystal, bronze statues, and expensive works of art…”

In Gilded Wings, as the angel/warrior team find themselves taking a journey through one of the most famous times in American History. this is the first we hear of the stunning summer ‘cottages’ that the elite of the Gilded Age owned. Back then, the women focused on throwing parties that made them the most famous and beloved; whereas the men became captains of industry - sometimes by very underhanded means.

The Breakers

Newport, Rhode Island was the ‘summer’ scene for the elite and pompous. Here, they would build houses to rival one another, with each female of the family wanting to make sure theirs was the grandest, most opulent of them all. In fact, the two most famous heads of household at the time - Mrs. Astor and Mrs. Vanderbilt - kept their competition going for quite some time. Vanderbilt’s mansion - The Breakers - was built with only the best; marble imported from Italy and Africa, plus rare woods and mosaics from countries around the world filled the place. And what upset Mrs. Astor the most was that, “if the Gilded Age were to be summed up by a single house, that house would have to be The Breakers,” seeing as that it was the largest, most ‘gilded’ house at the time.

Beechwood

Beechwood was Astor’s mansion; the home that Emily and Matthew find themselves entering in order to mingle in the famous Beechwood ballroom. Not only does Emily have to deal with the fact that she’s walked into a world she doesn’t understand, but here she must also face the fact that two very important men - her warrior/partner and her first love - are standing beside her glittering far more brightly than the excessive gold that seems to line every wall and rest on every table.

Built in 1851, Beechwood was the ‘show place’ for many of Mrs. Astor’s dinner parties. From a library to a dining room to a music room with wallpaper that was imported from Paris - the house had it all. After her son, John’s, death on the Titanic, the house was passed on to his widow who turned the entire third floor into her walk-in closet. (Yup,that’s the rich!)

The house - like everything in the Gilded Age, boasted two sides - one where the rich family lived and then the servant’s side, which included kitchens and quarters, as well as an area for the children to live.

Trust me, it’s a whole lot of fun to see the angel/warrior team surrounded by this ‘tacky' opulence that still has never gone out of style.

Don’t believe me? My Dad was a caretaker on a very wealthy property in CT. The wallpaper in the dining room was hand-painted and imported - scenes of a fox hunt with bloody fox carcasses hanging off their horses. Can you imagine eating dinner in that room?

Until Next Time, Everybody,

Amy

Sneak Peek into Gilded Wings, Read-A-Long Excerpt:
“It was only bread.” An old man’s voice whispered beside Anya.

Turning around, she watched a waterfall of blood run from the corner of his mouth. “What?”

“The prize...the gifts...” he wheezed. “They were bread. No jewels...no gold...it was all a lie.”

Anya reached out to catch the old man before he fell to the ground, but the pain raced up her mangled arm so fast that she couldn’t hold onto him. His lifeless body hit the ground, facing toward the bloody field. Anya knelt down beside him and closed his eyelids. She wanted him to see nothing more than the bright lights of Heaven—not the wretched end of his countrymen.

She offered a silent prayer and began limping from the hideous scene. Moving slowly, Anya stared at the frightened and confused faces of the law; they were soldiers outnumbered by man’s greed and in shock by what they were witnessing.

(end)

About Amy Lignor:

Amy Lignor began her career at Grey House Publishing in northwest Connecticut where she was the Editor-in-Chief of numerous educational and business directories.

Now she is a published author of several works of fiction. The Billy the Kid historical The Heart of a Legend; the thriller, Mind Made; and the adventure novel, Tallent & Lowery 13.

She is also the owner of The Write Companion, a company that offers help and support to writers through a full range of editorial services from proofreading and copyediting to ghostwriting and research. As the daughter of a research librarian, she is also an active book reviewer.

Currently, she lives with her daughter, mother and a rambunctious German Shepherd named Reuben, in the beautiful state of New Mexico.

Enter the Giveaway using the form below (click the link if the form does not appear).  The giveaway runs through January, but has amazing prizes!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Books 1 and 2 can be purchased from:

• Amazon (Kindle)
• B&N (Nook)
• iBook Store
• Smashwords
• PDF

Keep up with Amy and the Angels on Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, Amy's website, Amy's blog, and the official Angels website.  Tweet using the #GildedWings to tell us how excited you are about the release!  Here's a cake to show you how excited I am and to add to the fun of today's tour stop and because it's my birthday!  Happy Release Week!

**Update -- GUYS!! I'm going to be a character in Book 3!!!!!!!!!  There will be a character named Hilary in the third Angel Chronicles book!!  Can't wait to see where I show up!!**